Sheikh banned from Old City visits Temple Mount

Fatah’s Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades threatened to attack synagogues if Israel continued excavations near the Temple Mount ahead of the planned construction of a new bridge to the Mugrabi Gate.

“The sanctity of the Al-Aksa Mosque should not be less than that of the synagogues,” the group announced.

Moslem leaders have called on Palestinians to protest and hold processions until the construction ceases.

A Jerusalem court on Wednesday ordered the Islamic Movement Leader Sheikh Raed Salah in Israel to stay out of the Old City of Jerusalem for the next 10 days after he tried to force his way to the site of the archeological excavation outside the Temple Mount.

Salah said he plans to visit the Temple Mount on Thursday, despite court orders.

“The Temple Mount is the site most holy to the Jewish people. The State of Israel will never do anything to harm the freedom of worship of members of all religions - in Jerusalem or anywhere in Israel,” Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said.

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